Eye-on-Retail Daily Tipsheet Archives

Amazon has scared Target into a management shake-up, just like it did to Walmart by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “What the shake-up really comes down to, though, is simple: A panicked decision driven consciously or unconsciously by the realization that nothing Target has done has slowed Amazon from eating up more and more market share in North America.”Read more

Firms are passing up chance to buy 650 Walgreens amid merger by Josh Kosman at NY Post. “The PE firms feel the stores, sprinkled across the country, are not of a high-enough quality or quantity to support a profitable operation, sources said.”Read more

What I Learned Being Mentored by Brian Cornell, CEO of Target by Jacqueline Ross at Techstars. “So I asked him pretty much point blank, “What does it take?” His answer caught me off guard and still makes me smile. In essence, Brian told me that a CEO needs to be very self-contained: calm in the midst of chaos…”Read more

Walmart & Flipkart may gang up on Amazon in India at The Economic Times.Read more

CHICAGO WHOLE FOODS – Rahm Emanuel will cut the ribbon Wednesday on his highest-profile project to combat Chicago’s food deserts by Bill Ruthhart at Chicago Tribune. “At a time when he’s working to rebuild support among African-American voters, Emanuel can point to having lured a high-end grocer to one of the city’s most violent and economically challenged neighborhoods.”Read more

55 percent of online shoppers start their product searches on Amazon by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “Over the same time, the percentage of shoppers who start product searches on search engines like Google dropped from 34 percent to 28 percent. The number of online shoppers who check out a retailer’s website (other than Amazon) first also shrunk, from 21 percent to 16 percent.“Read more

Wal-Mart explores offering fulfillment services to its marketplace sellers by Katie Evans at Internet Retailer. “The retailer’s marketplace arm sells more than 10 million SKUs and is adding 1 million SKUs a month, Tri Huynh, director of business development for Walmart.com Marketplace tells Internet Retailer at Shop.org.”Read more

DIGGING THROUGH THE TRASH – Angry Target pharmacy customers want their red pill bottlesback via Twin Cities. “Vivian Ruth Sawyer went fishing through her trash to rescue the old Target bottles…She has since poured refills of her thyroid medicine into the old Target bottles, even though they don’t have the right expiration dates. It’s worth it, she said, because those bottles make it easier to tell her prescriptions apart when she looks in her drawer for them. “This is really inconvenient and irritating,” the Louisville, Ky., resident said.”Read more

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Amazon’s Newest Ambition: Competing Directly With UPS and FedEx by Greg Bensinger & Laura Stevens at Wall Street Journal. “Some executives refer to the initiative as “Consume the City,” a nod to the company’s plans to build a massive delivery network that could eventually compete with such partners as UPS, according to people familiar the matter.”Read more (subscription)

Brad Weston to become Petco’s CEO, as Jim Myers announces plans to retire after 26 years with the companyPress release

Amazon could be working on in-home package deliveries by Darrell Etherington at TechCrunch. “The news comes from a report at The Information, which highlights two companies working with retailers on technology that would allow delivery people temporary access when they’re making deliveries. The companies are August, which makes connected locks that you can control from your smartphone, and Garageio, a startup that builds connected garage door openers.”Read more

Lowe’s Launches Media Agency Review After More Than 10 Years With OMD by Patrick Coffee at Adweek. “Lowe’s has issued an RFI ahead of its first media agency review since 2005. The review comes roughly 10 months after the Mooresville, N.C., chain promoted former vp of advertising Marci Grebstein to the role of chief marketing officer.”Read more

Amazon.ca Launches Free Same-Day Delivery for Prime Members Shipping to Toronto and Vancouver, including Saturday and SundayPress release

Sears Canada tries a new store format by Francine Kopun at Toronto Star. “The Promenade Sears in Thornhill is half the size it used to be, unfurling across one polished concrete floor instead of two storeys. All the carpets have been removed, and the shelves and space dividers are on wheels, making it easier to create and collapse departments depending on what’s selling and what’s not.”Read more

Gamestop Will Be Just Fine…Until It Isn’t by Timothy Green at Fox Business.Read more

Amazon launching new bus service in the Seattle region for employees, and their dogs, too by Nat Levy at GeekWire. “Amazon plans to debut its own pilot commuter service Monday, joining the ranks of major tech companies that offer private shuttles as a perk to employees and a way to counteract the headaches caused by traffic congestion, GeekWire has learned.”Read more

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